The Australasian Students' Surgical Association (ASSA) is a not-for-profit, student-run organization supporting the 26 student surgical societies across Australia and New Zealand. It fosters interest in surgery through positive surgical experiences, insight into surgical careers and by developing technical and non-technical skills. Further background about the history and activities of ASSA are detailed elsewhere.1

The year 2020 has seen many societal challenges, notably the COVID-19 crisis, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020.2 There have been significant downstream ramifications for medical students as learning opportunities in the operating theatre, at the bedside and in formal institutional settings become limited.3 In addition, travel restrictions and social distancing recommendations have led to the cancellation or postponement of many face-to-face courses and conferences.3 ASSA has responded to these changes to provide surgically inclined students with opportunities to learn about surgery, in turn serving as models of organizational adaptability in rapidly evolving times.